Feb. 13, 2005

Box Score

GREENVILLE, S.C. --Freshman pitcher Ben Hunter recorded eight strikeouts in five innings of work in his collegiate debut to lead Furman to a 13-6 win over High Point in baseball action Sunday afternoon at Furman Stadium.

Hunter (1-0), a righthander from Cincinnati, Ohio, yielded five hits, two walks, and two earned runs before exiting the contest with Furman ahead 8-3.

High Point rallied with a Josh Cotten three-run home run in the eighth inning off Paladin reliever Nick Holstegge, but Furman squelched the comeback bid with five runs in the bottom of the frame to claim the rubber game of the three-game series.

Furman's AJ. Davidiuk paced the Paladins' 21-hit attack by going 3-for-6 with four RBI, and, in the process, extended his school record consecutive game hitting streak to 25 games. Andrew Greene, Tony Maccani, and Joey Rodgers also collected three hits each for Furman.

High Point jumped on top with a run in the first when Josh Doane doubled, stole third, and came home on a throwing error by Paladin catcher Tony Maccani.

Furman struck for two runs in the second on an RBI single by Andrew Greene and a double play ground out by Davidiuk that plated Maccani.

High Point tied the game at 2-2 in the third on an RBI single by Jeremy Neyra, but Furman answered with a run in the bottom of the frame after Matthew Betsill drew a leadoff walk and came around to score when Panther third baseman Matt Christie's throw bounced past first baseman Seby Renta.

The Paladins upped their advantage to 4-2 in the fourth on a ground out by Davidiuk that plated Joey Rodgers.

After High Point made it 4-3 in the fifth, Furman used five hits and a pair of Panther errors to plate four runs in the bottom of inning off Panther starter Bob Helman (0-1) for an 8-3 lead.

The Panthers pulled to within two on Cotten's three-run home run to center field before David Mitchell struck out HPU's Chris Ramirez with runners at second and third to end the threat.

Davidiuk's two-run single highlighted Furman's decisive five-run eighth inning.

Furman returns to action on Tuesday when it plays host to Gardner-Webb in a 3:00 p.m. game.